White House Chief Medical Advisor at Covid-19 Dr. Anthony Fauci overhears US President Joe Biden (outside the frame) during a visit to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, on February 11, 2021 .
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Most Americans will have access to the Covid-19 vaccine in mid-May or early June, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Tuesday, a slight delay compared to previous predictions.
The infectious disease specialist predicted that life-saving drugs would be widely available to the general public in late March or early April. Until now, vaccine distribution has been limited to workers in key industries, those aged 65 and over, and those with underlying health problems, depending on the state in which the person lives.
However, Fauci said the federal government expected “considerably more” initial doses from Johnson & Johnson, which applied for an emergency permit in the U.S. The New Jersey-based company said earlier that it will supply the US with 100 million doses by the end of June.
“It may take until June, July and August to finally vaccinate everyone,” said Fauci told CNN on Tuesday. “So when you hear about how long it will take to vaccinate the overwhelming proportion of the population, I don’t think anyone would disagree that this is going to be okay by the end of the summer and we will get to the beginning of the fall.”
The New York Times reported for the first time in January that unexpected delays in manufacturing would lead to a reduction in the initial supply of J&J medicine if it received emergency clearance. A company spokesman was not immediately available to comment on how many doses J&J will deliver immediately.
The Biden government has steadily increased the number of doses sent to the states each week, announcing plans on Tuesday to ship 13.5 million doses this week. The federal government will also double the number of doses sent directly to retail drugstore chains, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
Demand for drugs still far outstrips the nation’s supply, Fauci told CNN, calling it a “critical issue”. For weeks, state health officials demanded a more stable supply of vaccines. Some large-scale mass vaccination sites in the United States have had to postpone opening or temporarily close due to a lack of doses.
“I am a little disappointed that the number of doses we will receive from J&J is relatively small, but as we move forward in the spring, there will be more and more,” said Fauci.
Meanwhile, the head of the UK vaccination task force told Sky News on Tuesday that he expects all adults there to be able to receive both doses of the vaccine in August or September.
“We are confident within the vaccination task force now that the supply we are going to get will take us to a position where we can vaccinate as many people in the UK as we want to vaccinate,” Clive Dix told Sky News.